1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telephone sets, and more specifically to a speed dialing technique for dialing digits with reduced key operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional speed dialing procedure involves the use of combinations of digit keys assigned uniquely to different characters. By manually entering one of the key combinations, a memory is searched for detecting characters which are stored in the leftmost column of the memory and correspond to the entered key combination. If two or more characters are detected, the next key combination is entered to make a search for those characters stored in the next column. The process is repeated until there is only one remaining character string that contains the detected characters. The remaining character string is then put on display for confirmation by the user before corresponding digits are dialed. One disadvantage of the prior art dialing procedure is that if similar character strings are stored in the memory, the user must repeat key operations a substantial number of times.